Beijing is moving to demolish one of the only Hong Kong newspapers it doesn’t control

Apple Daily has long been at the forefront of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, reporting on protests closely and keeping a check on government officials through dogged shoe-leather journalism. Now, Beijing is making some of its most dramatic moves yet to effectively shred the publication, one of the few remaining newspapers that is openly critical of the government.

Police this morning arrested the paper’s founder, Jimmy Lai, on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces—a crime under the new national security law punishable by up to life in prison. Officers then carried out an hours-long raid on the publication’s offices, cordoning off large sections of the newsroom and carting away containers full of confiscated material, as the newspaper’s staff live-streamed the proceedings. Nine men in total, including Lai’s two sons, have been arrested. Mark Simon, a top aide to Lai and an American citizen, is also wanted, but is not in Hong Kong. Lai is the most prominent figure so far to be arrested under the new national security legislation.  

In a statement, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong condemned the arrests and the raid, calling the developments “a direct assault on Hong Kong’s press freedom and signal a dark new phase in the erosion of the city’s global reputation.”

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